Thursday, December 17, 2015

--A Sun Valley Idaho skier suffered serious injuries after being buried in an avalanche. It happened in the out of bounds area on the north side of Bald Mountain on Monday. The Sawtooth Avalanche Center says they're not sure of the man's condition, and his identity has not yet been released. To read more, click here.

--A Nampa man who skied out of bounds and got lost at Tamarack Sunday was found safe Monday morning. According to Idaho's Valley County Sheriff's Office, 32-year-old Sean E. Stevenson was reported missing just after 11:30 p.m. after he failed to return home from skiing. Stevenson's vehicle was still in the parking lot, and his lift ticket had last been scanned at 10:35 a.m., officials say. To read more, click here.

--The Glacier Creek Road that accesses the North Side of Mt. Baker was damaged in this last storm cycle. It is currently not passible.

--The purchase of 82 acres of timberland neighboring the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River will ensure more room to roam in the popular Mailbox Peak trailhead area. The land, which had been owned and harvested by local timber companies for more than 100 years, was headed toward development. Now, it will be added to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Natural Resource Conservation Area (NRCA) owned by the state of Washington and managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). To read more, click here.

Sierra:
--The Truckee Donner Land Trust and the Access Fund are pleased to announce the acquisition and protection of a significant set of climbing areas on Donner Summit, located just west of Truckee, California. The victory is announced only eight months after going under contract and launching the Save Donner Climbing Forever fundraising campaign. To read more, click here.

--Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area will have to wait a while longer for its first major road upgrade in 20 years, and there are conflicting reports about the scope of the work and when it will be finished. Bureau of Land Management officials had hoped to see work begin this month on expanded parking lots and new pavement for the park's 13-mile Scenic Drive, but delays on an earlier project have bumped the start date for the new construction into next year. To read more, click here.

Colorado:

--Vail Resorts came out with two major initiatives last week, each with the company’s employee base in mind: the EpicPromise Foundation, to support employees’ educational development and general well-being; and an employee housing program. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:
--A well known Alaskan rock and mixed climber has passed away. Eddie Phay was a pillar of the Alaskan climbing community. To read more and to see some videos of his climbs, click here.
--The 2016 Mugs Stump Award Winners have been announced. To read about the winners, click here.

--The Access Fund has had a mobile conservation team on the road since 2011. The organization recently announced that they will have a second team on the road starting in January of 2016. To read more, click here.
--The ski patrollers at Park City Mountain Resort are scheduled to decide this week whether to unionize, a vote complicated by the merging of PCMR and Canyons Resort into a single property prior to the start of ski season. To read more, click here.

--A jury will hear arguments in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a 16-year-old German exchange student who fell head first into a pocket of loose snow while skiing at Montana's Whitefish Mountain Resort, a federal judge has ruled. To read more, click here.

--New York Magazine has published an interesting article about the interface between Instagram users and National Parks. On the one hand, these users are bringing popularity to the parks. But on the other many people are doing irresponsible things...such as taking a picture of themselves near a bear or vandalizing something and documenting it for social media. To read the article, click here.

--Here's an article about the costs of obtaining life insurance as a climber...

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